A case of bragging rights or a business necessity? The Blackstone Group has gotten private industry players scratching their collective heads upon hearing that the p.e. giant has delayed the expected close of its latest fund, Blackstone Capital Partners V, originally scheduled for March 31, in order to get its limited partners to up the ceiling of the projected $13.5 billion by $1 billion to $14.5 billion. Speculation, according to Private Equity Week, is that Blackstone got wind that Texas Pacific Group was about to close its latest offering, TPG Partners V, at around $14.5 billion, and wanted to top that. An alternate theory, though Blackstone would not comment, is that the firm feels it needs to be bigger to better compete for mega-deals with firms such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (rumored to have $15 billion in available capital). Whatever the real reason, neither may be sound. If size matters, it won’t be long before another biggie offering sets a record, and if it’s business strategy, it may not make investors happy. Too much money often is too difficult to invest wisely. “Ego tends to get in the way of good investment opportunities,” one public pension fund official told LBO Wire, “When egos get involved, returns suffer.”